Bells and whistles are all very well in your software but, when a developer tries to add every conceivable feature into an application, things can get just too complicated. You end up with a maze of choices, 90% of which you might never use.

That’s not a criticism anyone is going to level at the iOS audio effects apps from developers Timothy Barraclough and Paul Mathews. I’ve looked at a number of these ‘floral series’ apps here on the blog – Phlox Phaser, Dahlia Delay, Tiger-lily Tremolo, Cactus Chorus, Saffron Saturator and Buttercup Bitcrush – and all are supplied with Audiobus and IAA support… Also, for the budget conscious, all are also very much in the pocket-money price category.

The streamlined interface of these apps is, of course, absolutely perfect for the first incarnation of the AU plugin format under iOS as the modest control sets would be relatively easy to accommodate even in an AU host that offers a relatively modest ‘sub-window’ for the AU plugin to reside in…. Tim and Paul have obviously had that thought themselves as the first of the floral series apps – in this case Phlox Phaser – has just been updated to offer AU plugin support. I suspect this will soon be followed by the other apps in the series….

Anyway, having given Phlox Phaser a quick spin this morning using MultitrackStudio for iPad as my AU host, I’m happy to confirm that the app seems to translate very smoothly to the new AU format. The compact control set is retained and, as with other AU plugins (such as Voice Rack: FX that I looked at yesterday), you can run multiple instances of the app as an AU plugin. This is one of the big benefits of the format… so let’s hope more apps offer AU support, and in particular, more AU hosts appear. Things are moving though, and while it is still a trickle, it is a steady trickle….

Anyway, at UK£1.49, Phlox Phaser is an investment to lose too much sleep over. If you are happy to just expand your audio effects collection, or looking for budget, small footprint effects options, all the floral series apps are well worth a punt.